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Poland school board tables action on contracts
POLAND
The Board of Education did not take any action at its 1 p.m. special meeting Sunday before commencement at Poland Seminary High School.
The board had been expected to vote on changing the effective date of the Poland Education Association and Ohio Association of Public School Employees contracts from Sept. 1 to June 29.
Instead, Dr. Larry Dinopoulos, board vice president, made a motion to table the matter until the board consulted with legal counsel. Board members unanimously approved his motion.
The board will meet with its legal counsel during executive session of a special meeting June 20. Its next regular meeting is 6 p.m. June 27 at the PSHS library.
The board also discussed pay to participate for extracurricular activities and many board members said they received feedback from residents after receiving proposals from the athletic director and band director last month.
Athletic director Brian Banfield has offered three proposals: cutting the swimming program and make it a club sport, saying it will save the district $23,00 annually; combining transportation between sports to save the district about $4,500; and imposing an activity fee for all athletes, with high school students paying $150 per year and middle school students $75 per year. Under the third proposal, students would only have to pay the fee once each year no matter how many sports they play.
Band director Nick Olesko has recommended an optional $25 transportation fee for band members. Parents who attended Sunday’s special board meeting said that marching band students already pay $35 for costs associated with marching band.
Board member Richard Weaver said he does not fully support a fee for marching band.
“Band is not an extracurricular. It’s a class, they’re getting credit for it,” he said.
Superintendent Robert Zorn recommended that if the board does want to institute an activity fee, it should do so before its August meeting because several sports and marching band begin practicing in August. The board does not have a July meeting scheduled.
“We have more homework to do,” said board president Elinor Zedaker. “...We’re not doing this as a fundraiser, we’re trying to offset expenses.”